Articles

Water is a remarkable substance. Like air, it is necessary for the existence of virtually all life forms. It is present – although in differing amounts – throughout the world. It…

My wife recently came across a very interesting family document, an official inventory of the estate of her great-great-grandfather, Robert McCrillis, who died in 1884 in Topsham, Vermont.…

Recently I spent the afternoon in the woods with a long-time friend of mine, Charlie Moreno. Charlie and I graduated from forestry school a year apart and have since maintained our connection…

Just as a door needs hinges to allow it to function properly, a good hinge is needed to safely bring a tree to the ground. In tree felling, the hinge is the uncut wood left between the notch,…

When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy's been swinging them. -Robert Frost, "Birches" Thanks to Robert…

I opened the lever action and showed my grandson Aidan, age 8, that my deer rifle wasn’t loaded. As his mother and grandmother watched us, I asked Aidan if he wanted to hold the rifle. He…

The prices reported here are those that log buyers—mostly sawmills and wholesalers—are paying for logs. Because these are prices paid for delivered wood, landowners need to adjust…

The fruiting structures of the tinder polypore are not hard to recognize, especially if you can remember that it has another common name, which is “hoof fungus.” Shaped like a horse’s…

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." —Aesop, Fables: The Lay and the Peacock Of all the birds that regularly visit backyard feeders, none is more easily…

Everything we do – or don’t do – in a forest is forest management. Many of today’s foresters strive to provide excellent forest management. But what exactly does that mean?…

Forests would be a lot less interesting and not nearly as beautiful without ferns, wildflowers, shrubs, understory trees, and other small plants. But as the canopy closes in a forest, the…

Fish for enough summers and you can’t help but accumulate some photos in the classic sporting genre: guy holding fish. If the trophy is a smallmouth, you’re likely to be hoisting it by the…

On a spectacular summer day in July, three of us – all botanists – gathered our gear together at a remote trailhead in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Dorothy Allard, Annie…

The fungi that attack heartwood in living trees are grouped according to what part of the tree they attack – roots, butt, trunk, or branches – and by what component of the wood…

...even if it wasn't there before? Trees that rapidly colonize forest openings made by recent cutting, fire, or wind throw are often called “pioneers.” Species such as aspen…

Foresters of a certain age will recognize the question, “Forests for whom and for what?” posed by Marion Clawson in the title of a forest policy book widely read by students learning how…

“This time they got caught” was the distinct overtone in a recent news story in which 15 illegal immigrants from China who had packed themselves into a crate were found just in the nick of…

Unfolding over the past year, we’ve experienced something at Northern Woodlands that serves as a symbol for everything that we’ve stood for since we began publishing this magazine 11 years…

The prices reported here are those that log buyers—mostly sawmills and wholesalers—are paying for logs. Because these are prices paid for delivered wood, landowners need to adjust the…

It is usually easiest to fell a tree in the direction that it’s leaning, but sometimes it’s necessary to fell it in the opposite direction. A tree leaning away from the intended…